[West Ender]

You can't put it all down to lack of gang control. One of the largest contributors to the violence we see today is, in my opinion, the general decline of morals in Society. We live in an age where "anything goes" and there is no protection for the young against the reporting, depiction and glorification of sex and, particularly, violence. It's there in the media, in so-called entertainment, everywhere.

I wouldn't advocate a completely restrictive, completely censored approach but there should be boundaries and they should be adhered to by force of Law. The killers of James Bulger were, at the time, reported to have watched the film "Child's Play", with its attendant violence, the night before the murder. That's no excuse for what they did but it is, possibly, a factor. Turn on the TV and you can always find violence, in some form or another, shown as entertainment and treated as a normal part of life. Even the music industry is part of it, some Rap lyrics are devoted to the violent treatment and denigration of women in particular.

More and more people of all ages, particularly those of more restricted intellect, have come to regard violence and arrogance as the appropriate way of life and, until the country as a whole comes to its senses and returns to some enforcement of moral standards, it will only get worse.